Friends of Casa Generacion’s (FoG) is a US non-profit that works hand-in-hand with Casa Generacion in Lima, Peru.
Founded in 1988, Casa Generación advocates for the human rights of at-risk children, youth, teenagers, and young adults who live in the streets of Lima. Generación’s work aims to improve their quality of life and provide opportunities and hope to achieve a bright future full of purpose.
Generación not only provides safe shelter, private education, and skills training opportunities to at-risk youth, but they also create a loving space to call home. As the children of Casa Generación embark on their new journey, they build relationships with their fellow house members and Generación staff. This welcoming environment empowers them to heal, grow, and thrive.
The issue
Children and adolescents living on the streets of Lima are incredibly vulnerable to the harsh realities of poverty. Stripped of their dignity and basic human rights, street children are exposed to the constant threat of starvation, human trafficking, violence, physical abuse, and sexual exploitation. Often homeless or forced to sell wares on the streets to support their family, these children are denied the fundamental rights of education, dignity, self-respect, and the dream of a better future.
MISSION
We are here to empower the at-risk children, adolescents, and young adults of Lima toward a lifelong journey of personal growth and development where they can dream, achieve, thrive, and write their own stories.
VISION
We aim to create a Peru free of street children living in poverty, and we strive to create a world where every child, family, and community is united in the common goal of protecting the human rights of our youth.
“It’s either us or the kids…I chose the kids. That was the birth of Generacion”
Lucy Borja | Founder
Our Story
By Enrique Bazán
In 1988, as part of an HIV/AIDS-prevention program that she directed, my mother Lucy Borja started visiting Peru’s juvenile detention centers.
Throughout her visits, Lucy learned the children’s personal stories of life on the streets. They faced the threat of violence daily: kidnapping, rape, getting beat up, and even being shot by death squads. One night two boys who feared to spend the night on the streets asked Lucy for a place to stay. She invited them to sleep in her office and told them to invite any other child who shared their fears.
My mother asked the custodian to give entry to any child who arrived at the office. That evening, we went to her office to check in with the young guests.
Her key unlocked the front door of the office, but the door wouldn’t open. We thought that the custodian got scared when he saw the street children and rolled up a carpet behind the door to block the entrance. We pushed the door open and my mother was able to reach the light switch. Once the light came on, we looked down at our feet and discovered several young kids curled up on the floor sleeping, their bodies jammed against the door. When we looked around the room, we could not believe our eyes. Sleeping children were even inside the kitchen cabinets. We counted over five hundred children who slept in the office that night.
The kids of Lima kept coming back to the office each night, and the staff got upset with this ongoing invasion. They gave Lucy an ultimatum: “It’s either us or the kids.” My mother chose the kids.
The work of Generacion started in 1988 and currently promotes and protects street children’s rights. Since they opened the office for the children, Generacion has helped hundreds of children from exploitation and trafficking.
Our Team
Lucy Borja - Founder, Peru
Since founding Generación in 1988, Lucy Borja has dedicated her life to working with youth and families in Peru. She is fondly known by many as “Mamá Lucy” and to date, Lucy takes an active role in the day-to-day operations and interactions of Generación.
Luis Alonso Hutchinson - Psychologist, Peru
Luis Alonso works in Perú with the youth of Generación as an on-site psychologist.
Selva - Group home staff, Peru
Marisol - Group home staff, Peru
Valentina - Art teacher, Peru
Kique Bazan - CoFounder, USA
Luis Enrique “Kique” Bazan is a longtime advocate for justice with years of experience working with human rights and advocacy organizations. Originally from Lima, Peru, as a child, Enrique played an active role in helping his mother Lucy, build Generación into what it is today. A graduate of the University of San Francisco, he has dedicated his life to working with street children in Peru, to give them a better future. He enjoys his quality time in the company of his wife and two daughters in Half Moon Bay, California.
